The present invention relates to a bale lifter suitable for lifting bales of hay etc. onto a vehicle. The invention may find particular application in conjunction with a bale feeder.
Bales have traditionally been lifted onto bale feeders using forks that are slid underneath bales to lift the bales onto the bale feeders. In this case care must be taken not to spear the bale so that it catches on the forks.
Traditional bale feeders have been capable of feeding out only round bales. Modern bale feeders are now required to feed out both round and square bales. Lifting square bales using traditional forklifts is problematic as they pick up a certain amount of dirt in order to lift under the bale so that the prongs do not catch on the bale. Large forklift prongs having rounded ends have been used to avoid digging up dirt. However, the size of the prongs can make it difficult to pick up bales as they tend to push the bales rather than slide under them.
Square bales may be lifted using clamping or impaling techniques. Clamping mechanisms are expensive and complex. Impaling mechanisms available to date have also been complex and have suffered from the disadvantage of generating significant impact shocks when bales are dropped onto the bale feeders.
It is an object to the invention to provide a bale lifter which goes at least some way towards reducing these disadvantages or to at least provide the public with a useful choice.
There is this provided a bale lifter comprising:
a chassis;
a bale holder;
a transporting mechanism which rotates the bale holder with respect to the chassis so as to load a bale adjacent the chassis onto the chassis in use; and
a release mechanism which activates when the bale holder is above the chassis to allow rotation of the bale holder with respect to the transporting mechanism to assist the release of a bale from the bale holder.
The transporting mechanism preferably comprises a first arm pivotally connected between a first pivot point on the chassis and a second pivot point on the bale holder, a second arm pivotally connected between a third pivot point on the chassis and a fourth pivot point on the bale holder and an actuator for rotating the arms with respect to the chassis and the bale holder with respect to the arms. The release mechanism is preferably in the form of a catch which is released when a bale is moved to a position just above the chassis.